knit what? purl who?

I wasn't planning on it. Oh, well. Lemme find some knitting pictures and maybe I'll post em!

Without further delay...

A brown sweater.

Pattern: my own, using Elizabeth Zimmermann's percentage system.
Yarn: Cascade 220, some heathery brown color
Needles: US 8 Knitpicks Circulars

Here is a poor picture of somebody wearing it.

Despite loathing any picture that contains myself, I love this sweater and wear it all the time. Cascade 220 is surprisingly softer than you might think, and is affordable. I plan on making some basic turtlenecks for the fall from it this year.

My mom's sweater is back from the seamstress, but I got bored in the three weeks it took her, so I had to start some new things. I've started Orangina, and Flicca. My friend from work and I are having a mini Flicca-Along (it's just the two of us), using Rowan Yorkshire Tweed. The pattern calls for a chunky weight yarn, I'm using an aran weight and I've already had to rip it out beacuse I was afraid it wouldn't be wide enough across the shoulders. It's already long enough for a dog to sleep under...

and on top of...

To prove that I actually do accomplish things...

Pattern: jumbo elephant from Knitted Toys
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, I forget the color, but it's bright yellow.
Needles: US 2 straights
Modifications: Used smaller needles (pattern called for US 3), put a couple of jingle balls inside. I used fabric instead of felt for the ears, I put a piece of card inside them, and a little bit of fluff so they would be soft, but keep their shape withiout getting too puffy. I didn't use buttons for eyes like the pattern says (for a baby?, get real.) I just used regular yarn, doubled it, made a colonial knot and stitched that down. Hopefully the baby can't eat it.

I love this book. I think the pattens are adorable. Cotton fleece is yuck, in my opinion, to work with, but it makes a good knitted toy, and should clean up well.

Here's a side shot.

Here it is hanging out with a knitted babe.

That knitted babe was the project that got me re-obesessed with knitting. About two years ago, a co-worker showed up at work with that book, and a few of us decided to make one, just for fun. As you can see, it's bright pink, and has no clothes, except for some strategically placed iron-on flowers. It's also propped up against a can of baked beans in this picture. Oh, well. Here's where it usually lives.

Riding bareback on the duck decoy. Sheesh.

Some stitch markers with no dang dangle. I'll admit to having lost most of my little plastic ones in couch cushions and dog bellies.

The red sweater for my mother is at the seamstress (otherwise known as my friend Tina with the working sewing machine who is capable of sewing in a straight line.) being prepared for the big steek. I used a crochet steek for my wool sweaters, but since this one is cotton/silk, I figured I'd better machine steek it.

It's been really hot this week (like 106 degrees) and it's wildfire city around here, not the right setting for a picture of the brown sweater. Someday, people (Secretly, I'm hoping to be a size 4 before I take the picture. It could happen).

I've started over with the purple yarn that was to be for the jacket worked in rounds. I think I may have to rip it out again. It fits, but isn't the fit I really wanted, and to be honest, I'm feeling a little schizophrenic about what I want it to look like in the first place. There is a pattern in the Rebecca magazine that might be the thing, but I CAN"T FIND THE MAGAZINE! My significant other works nights (and , duh, sleeps all day) so I can't go on a giant cursing, screaming, rip the house apart rampage like I really want. And I still have to find the right thing for my lovely Malabrigo. The Mystery Stole is working out all right, I'm finished with the first clue. If my printer had ink in it I would have printed out the second clue and statered working on it and would have just bought some more plastic stitch markers. Instead, I am making a hundred little stitch markers (which are totally cuter than the plastic kind) and brooding over the purple sweater and the missing Rebecca magazine. And the dogs are pouting because they want to go for a W-A-L-K. What a weekend.

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and while I'd like to say it's because things have been crazy, it's mostly because I've been lazy. I still haven't taken a picture of the brown sweater, but I'm wearing it right now if that helps. (Oh yeah, I can wear a wool sweater in June- three cheers for the Pacific Northwest! ) This sweater has gotten me over the "I don't like anything after I've finished it" problem I was having.

Well, the two people who actually read this might be interested in what I've been up to. I got some de-li-cious yarn to make the Jacket Worked in Rounds. I flew through it, and had about six inches of the second sleeve left and I ripped it out. I tried it on, and while the yarn is soft and wonderful and great to work with it wasn't a very flattering look on me. So, I started something else, we'll see how that goes. This stuff is so soft, even if I have to rip it out and start again I won't mind. I've also acquired about a sweater's worth of Malabrigo in the butter colorway. I've got a pattern in mind for that, too, but you know how plans can change.

While I was visiting my parents in South Carolina, I took my mother, who does not knit, to her LYS so that she could pick some yarn for a sweater for herself. Hooray for her, she picked some Rowan Summer Tweed in a red color. It's my own design, which means a lot of ripping, but it's going well. I will confess that, while very atteractive, this yarn is a little hard on the hands.

Sounds like the sockapalooza people are all way ahead of me, I finally decided on a pattern, and I'll tell you if you promise not to laugh. My sock pal mentioned that she's not into really lacy patterns, and she lives in Minnesota. In an attempt to be different, I decided on the cabled footies in the One Skein book. They'll be nice and warm in a worsted weight for those Midwest winters. Hopefully that's not too lame. For some reason, I feel like they need to be orange, so I am on the hunt for some orange yarn that's not ugly. The good news is that they won't take very long to knit.

I've also joined the mystery stole knitalong. I got some yarn, I can't remember what it is off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to get up and look. Now, I don't knit lace, and she specifically said that this pattern isn't for beginners, but somethimes I like to pretend I'm a superhero.

I also really want to make something from hemp this summer.

In keeping with my laziness you'll notice I haven't included any pictures. I promise I'll take one of the brown sweater soon!

The brown sweater is blocking on the office floor. I really wish my camera was here because the sweater is looking pretty sticking good, if I do say so myself. I even nade a trip to the sleazy local JoAnn and got some buttons. The green sweater was the first project I've ever bothered blocking, and I can can see now that I have been a fool for not blocking everything. It definaltely makes a difference but ... DAMN IT! IT TAKES TOO LONG!! I have this problem with wanting instant gratification. The green sweater, by the way, has moved on to a new home. I had it at work, and a coworker was admiring it and mentioning how it was her birthday, so I told her to take it. I have this problem with not really liking things once they're finished. I think this brown sweater will be the exception to that rule. I'm lovin' how it looks pinned to the floor, anyway.

I love the brown sweater. I keep taking unnecessary trips into the office so I can admire it. But, I don't have my next project picked out yet! I have been admiring this :

The pattern is Mabel from Berroco pattern booklet #261. Now, my thighs are not quite as small as the model's, but my dogs are definately cuter, so I feel ok about that. I'm debating on how flattering this would be on a size 8 someone.

I'm going to see my parents in June. I attempted to make a throw for my father for Christmas last year. I almost finished, but not quite, and I had to take it back home with me. It's basically just sat here, waiting for me to finish it. Now, I will brag just a little and say that my knitting skills have been improving very quickly over that past 6 months or so. I don't even want to look at the thing, it's full of mistakes I know how to fix now, but didn't then. I was trying to be economical, and my mother hates wool, so I bought some inexpensive acrylic, that has been looking worse and worse just sitting there. I don't even want to think about what it would look like after washing it. Problem is, I think my dad secretly really wants it. But I cringe whenever I touch it. I was looking at patterns the other day and found this:

The pattern is from Knitpicks, and it is made using Crayon which is 100% cotton. It's made in squares, so it would be nice and portable, and the squares are knitted together, so I wouldn't have to sew. The color pattern was apparently a free-form thing, and that is the problem. I can't have blocks that don't look exactly the same, I'm way too uptight, and I'm trying to figure out a way to make them all identical before I go ordering any yarn. I'm undecided, which is never good because I need a new project now!

Well, my camera has gone on vacation again. Again, sadly, I can not go with it. Too bad, too, because the brown sweater that was only about an inch long in my last post has grown a couple arms, and in fact has grown all the way up to the neck. I'm feeling a little like I don't want to steek this one, because it fits so well. And the yoke neck/shoulder shaping has got my poor little brain working overtime to figure out how I'm going to crochet steek the thing. I suppose I could use a sewing machine, but then I would have to find someone to do it for me, because I can NOT sew in a straight line. (Remind me to post a picture of the "quilt" I made sometime.) Plus, I would have to turn over control of my project to another. NEVER! (Unless you really love sewing sweater pieces together, then call me.) Going back to school has made me a real tight-ass.

Anyhoo, with no pictures of brown sweater to show, maybe I should confess that I have a new project on the brain. Let me just say that if a book came out called "Yummy Fireside Snuggle Knits", I would be all over it. My favorite types of knitting are the big, soft, snuggly things that you curl up in all winter. This has me written all over it:

Aahhh... the Jacket Worked in Rounds from Rebecca No. 32. Worked in rounds sounds like an idea I can get behind. Minimal sewing. Here it is in the window of Loop:

and its sister:

Makes me wish it wasn't MAY. Maybe if I turn the AC up real high...

Stay tuned for more future project wannabe and adorable dog pictures whilst the camera enjoys his trip to Iowa!

Yeah, I did. Cast on for another EZ cardigan, that is. Long sleeve this time, and a couple other changes.

Wait, who's the little fella in the backround looking for attention?

Well, I'll be damned! It's a sock! I was briefly distracted by something green, but I'm over it now and I finished this sock. I'll need to make a little buddy for it soon.

I have a little problem. Well, it's not really a problem, but one of my good friends is graduating from medical school which, I've heard, is kind of a big deal. (Those of us 26 year olds that drive ninety minutes each way over a mountain pass EVERY DAY retaking freshman college classes just to get into dental school wouldn't know anything about that, dammit. My nursing degree counts very little in the way of dental prerequisites, don't you know.) In any case, I'd like to come up with a simple gift to make for her, but I don't have any ideas, and she can't have my sweater. She's starting her residency in Washington D.C. (about as far away from Washington state as you can get, right next door to my parents in South Carolina.) so there will be cold weather for knitted items.

Any ideas?

My chemistry professor is from Poland, and apparently, izi is Polish for easy. At least I hope so, he puts it at the end of half his slides. Anyway, there was a lot more izi in this sweater than on my last chemistry exam.

Pattern: I used EZ's percentage system and raglan shoulder decrease from Knitting without Tears. I used Eunny's crocheted steek tutorial, and I was inspired to start the thing after I saw Brooklyn Tweed's Saddle Shoulder Aran
Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro 5019 stolen from the Kenobi Jacket (sorry, pal)
Needles: US 8 circulars from my Knitpicks Options set

A lot of firsts in this project: First sweater without a real pattern (second sweater ever), first attempt at steeking, and should I give away my ignorance/laziness and confess this is the first project I've blocked? Heh, heh. I forced myself to do it this time:

Note the dog head in the bottom corner.

This project was really fun and fast. In fact, I'm planning another long sleeve in brown, probably with Cascade 220 again, which fits into my budget, especially if I have no pattern and I'm going to cut the thing. Cardigans are great to throw on and I'll wear it through the summer beacuse it get's cold in the evenings in Washington state, even in the summer time.

Overall, I'm really happy with how this turned out. Next time, I'll be sure to use a smaller crochet hook, the steek was a little lumpy before blocking. I couldn't find a smaller one, and I was too impatient to actually go get a new one. I still haven't put in any button holes (I showed this to someone and they asked me if I knew how to make buttonholes "Please, woman! You obviously haven't done your reading.") I want to try EZ's afterthought buttonhole.

Finished sweater: Hooray!

Anyone seen my toothbrush? I can't seem to find the damn thing. Oh yeah, and there's something green blocking on my office floor...